Government endangers its own conservation advisers

THE British government last week provoked a controversy with proposals to break up the Nature Conservancy Council, which advises Whitehall on wildlife protection. The government plans to dismember the NCC, whose responsibilities cover England, Scotland and Wales, and to reconstitute it as three separate organisations in the three countries.

There are also plans to merge the activities of the council in Scotland and Wales with those of the two existing Countryside Commissions (which advise the government on landscape protection and rural policy) to form single conservation agencies in those countries. This would leave England alone with a Countryside Commission.

The council denounced the government's plan. Sir William Wilkinson, the chairman of the NCC, said that the proposals had little merit either in national, international or economic terms. Timothy Hornsby, the director of the council, described them as 'Balkanisation'.

Nicholas Ridley, the environment secretary, said that the new bodies would be ...

To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content.

To continue reading this article, log in or subscribe to New Scientist

App + web

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$25.99 - Save 65%

12 issues for $2.17 per issue

with continuous service

Print + web

Print

Web

$28.99 - Save 61%

12 issues for $2.42 per issue

with continuous service

Print + app + web

Print

Web

Smartphone

Tablet

$39.99 - Save 73%

12 issues for $3.33 per issue

with continuous service

Web

Web only

$49.99

30 day web pass

Prices may vary according to delivery country and associated local taxes.